The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Finishing machines with several finishing stones are used when the finishing process cannot be completed in one processing step, but prefinishing with a first finishing stone is carried out first and a still finer surface processing is carried out with a second finishing stone. Still further finishing stones may be provided, if necessary.
For these applications the finishing stones are known to be mounted on a stone turning unit and used one after the other to process a workpiece. A drive unit is required for the stone turning unit for this purpose, which serves to position the finishing stone required for the corresponding process in the respectively required position. Drive units are mounted on the stone turning unit in the finishing machines available on the market. A disadvantage of this concept is that this drive unit increases the mass and necessary installation space of the stone turning unit. The mass increase is even more significant when the stone turning unit as well as the finishing stone that is meshing with the workpiece have to perform an oscillating motion while the workpiece is being processed.
This is not only disadvantageous because of the increased drive power requirements, but also because of the need for increased guidance and bedding of the oscillating stone turning unit.